from Martha, who else?

In Wilderness Warrior, a new and acclaimed biography of Theodore Roosevelt, author Douglas Brinkley says the former Rough Rider’s crusade for conservation was perhaps the greatest presidential initiative between the Civil War and World War II. Brinkley credits the 26th president with saving, virtually single-handedly, 234 million acres of public lands through the creation of national parks, forests and monuments, like the Grand Canyon, as well as federal bird reservations and game preserves.

Mid Brain reports:

The Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology (via CosmeticsDesign) says that eating a certain kind of chocolate can help protect the skin against UV damage.

The chocolate  has to be made by a special method that maintains its high antioxidant content. The author of the study  points out, however, that chocolate is NOT a good substitute for wearing sunscreen. There was no mention of whether or not chocolate is a good substitute for having a boy friend.

(And, yes, those shoes in today’s picture are really made of chocolate.)

Tesla Motors has secured a low-interest $350 million loan under the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program. The program, created as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and appropriated in the fall of 2008, is unrelated to the current stimulus or “bailout” package of some American automakers. The goal of the bipartisan ATVM is to accelerate the production of fuel-efficient vehicles for mainstream Americans and reduce the nation’s dependence on oil. The new loan from the DOE will enable Tesla to accelerate the production of fuel-efficient vehicles using their existing platform all electric power train of the S model by expanding upon it to create an all-electric family sized minivan, a crossover SUV, and a utility fleet van.

With the DOE loan, Tesla joins Ford and Nissan as the first recipients of federal loans designed to move America’s car companies toward more fuel-efficient technology. No funds have been dispensed yet, but Tesla has big plans for its taxpayer injection, most importantly the development of an assembly plant for the Model S sedan (the first actual mass-production car from the company) in Southern California and a powertrain manufacturing facility in Northern California, which combined should employ about 1,650 workers. Tesla unveiled the Model S sedan in March, but so far there's no word on when it will hit showrooms.

Tesla hopes their platform power train could be adopted or licensed in a sense by other manufacturers, saving them the time and cost of developing their own technology. This could help large entities like utilities or municipal governments save big money while drastically reducing carbon emissions.